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Torah Nuggets – Rabbin Deborah Brandt Bamidbar – in The Torah Nuggets – Rabbin Deborah Brandt Bamidbar – In The Wilderness1 Numbers 1:1-4:20 Haftorah – Hosea 2:1-2:22 Brit Hadasha - Romans 9:22-23 In the Sinai Desert, G-d says to conduct a census of the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses counts 603,550 men of draftable age (20 to 60 years); the tribe of Levi, numbering 22,300 males age one month and older, is counted separately. The Levites are to serve in the Sanctuary, replacing the firstborn, whose number they approximated, who were disqualified when they participated in the worshipping of the Golden Calf. The 273 firstborn who lacked a Levite to replace them had to pay a five-shekel “ransom” to redeem themselves. When the people broke camp, the three Levite clans dismantled and transported the Sanctuary, and reassembled it at the center of the next encampment. They then erected their own tents around it: the Kohathites, who carried the Sanctuary’s vessels (the Ark, menorah, etc.) in their specially designed coverings on their shoulders, camped to its south; the Gershonites, in charge of its tapestries and roof coverings, to its west; and the families of Merari, who transported its wall panels and pillars, to its north. Before the Sanctuary’s entranceway, to its east, were the tents of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons. Beyond the Levite circle, the twelve tribes camped in four groups of three tribes each. To the east were Judah (pop. 74,600), Issachar (54,400) and Zebulun (57,400); to the south, Reuben (46,500), Simeon (59,300) and Gad(45,650); to the west, Ephraim (40,500), Manasseh (32,200) and Benjamin(35,400); and to the north, Dan (62,700), Asher (41,500) and Naphtali(53,400). This formation was kept also while traveling. Each tribe had its own nassi (prince or leader), and its own flag with its tribal color and emblem. 1 © Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org's copyright policy. 1 Reoccurring themes in the Book of Numbers include the continual murmuring of Israelites and the divine punishment on them as a result. YHVH made promises to care for them and lead them into the Promised Land. Instead of having faith and trust in him, with few exceptions, the Israelites exhibited doubt and unbelief in YHVH. As a result, the entire older generation, with the exception of faithful Joshua and Caleb, perished in the wilderness never to realize the promises YHVH had made to them concerning the Promised Land. This is a poignant lesson for all believers in their faith walk. The spiritual application of this lesson is not missed by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews in chapter four of that book. When YHVH makes promises, his people need to embrace those promises with enthusiastic and optimistic faith and never let them go. After all, if we cannot trust our Creator, then who or what can we trust? In this book, we see revealed the grace of YHVH, that he is longsuffering and slow to anger (14:20–38), but that he is also just, and as a father, he disciplines those he loves. His judgments are measured and progressive. The more his children refuse to obey him and resist him, the stronger the judgments. Eventually, the older generation of Israelites died off in the wilderness. This teaches us that death is the final judgment against the sin of rebellion and unbelief. There are no eternal rewards or spiritual inheritance for those who refuse to take hold of YHVH’s promises and to go forward in faith and faithful obedience to him. We see the work and person of the future Yeshua the Messiah in the Book of Numbers, as well. As Provider, he meets all of Israel’s needs both physical and spiritual. Paul reveals that Yeshua was the spiritual Rock that gave them water in the wilderness (1Cor 10:4). Twice, Israel received water from the rock (Exod 17:1–7 and Num 20:1–13). Additionally, the secular prophet, Balaam, prophesied about the Messiah who was to rise out of Israel like a star (Num 24:17). Nathan Lawrence Hoshana Rabbah God’s Divine Order In The Camp God is a God of order and we will see as we study Numbers that every Tribe had its job to do, and it was God who decided who would do what job, not men. The Levites Served in the Sanctuary Each Tribe was told where they would encamp and each had their own flag with color and emblem. A Census of Israel's Warriors Num 1:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Num 1:2 "Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head Num 1:3 from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies. Num 1:4 "With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, each one head of his father's household. 2 Num 1:5 "These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; Num 1:6 of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; Num 1:7 of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; Num 1:8 of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; Num 1:9 of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; Num 1:10 of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; Num 1:11 of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; Num 1:12 of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; Num 1:13 of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; Num 1:14 of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; Num 1:15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan. Num 1:16 "These are they who were called of the congregation, the leaders of their fathers' tribes; they were the heads of divisions of Israel." Notice it was God who told Moses who the leaders were to be. Num 1:17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, Num 1:18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first of the second month. Then they registered by ancestry in their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, Num 1:19 just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. The Levites were set apart for the work of the Tabernacle Num 1:49 "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel. Num 1:50 "But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle. Num 1:51 "So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman who comes near shall be put to death. Num 1:52 "The sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own standard, according to their armies. Num 1:53 "But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony." 3 The Camping Order Rabbi Dr. Hillel Ben David Arrangement of the Camp Num 2:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, Num 2:2 "The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance. Num 2:3 "Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab, Num 2:4 and his army, even their numbered men, 74,600. Num 2:5 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and the leader of the sons of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar, Num 2:6 and his army, even their numbered men, 54,400. Num 2:7 "Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon, Num 2:8 and his army, even his numbered men, 57,400. Num 2:9 "The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. They shall set out first. 4 Num 2:10 "On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur, Num 2:11 and his army, even their numbered men, 46,500.
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